The crypto market rebounded over the weekend following the Fed's interest rate decision on March 20th, but this week also saw the release of a number of important economic indicators.
The week will be short as the TradFi market will be closed for Good Friday on March 29th. But investors are awaiting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech for further clues about the Fed's policy outlook.
economic calendar
The first major report that could impact the market is the US GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2023, scheduled for release on Thursday, March 28th. This third and final reading is expected to confirm that economic growth was at an annual rate of 3.2%.
A report on consumer confidence and consumer inflation expectations is also scheduled for Thursday. These are used to measure consumer sentiment, confidence levels, and views on long-term inflation.
The annual U.S. inflation rate for the 12 months ending in February was 3.2%, still above the Fed's target.
On Friday, core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for February will be released, which reflects the average amount consumers spend each month, excluding seasonal products such as food and energy.
This index is used by central bank policymakers as a key inflation indicator. With inflation remaining high, CPI and PCI numbers a few weeks ago were higher than expected, leading to greater market volatility.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will also speak on “Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy” on Friday, potentially providing insight into the economic outlook for the coming months. The current probability that the FOMC will keep interest rates unchanged in May is 89.1%, according to CME data.
Raul Pal, CEO of Global Macro Investor, said a “macro summer” is here, meaning a boom in risk-on assets such as tech stocks and cryptocurrencies as liquidity increases. He said he did.
Virtual currency market outlook
Cryptocurrency markets had a volatile week last week, but things seemed to stabilize over the weekend. In Asian market trading on Monday morning, total value rose 2.5% over the past 24 hours to $2.67 trillion.
The market has fallen 7.5% from its multi-year peak earlier this month as the Bitcoin ETF frenzy cools.
BTC rose 4% on the day before trading at $67,000 as it recovered. The asset is currently down 10% from its all-time high on March 14th.
ETH price also rose by 4%, reaching $3,470 in Asia this Monday morning. Most altcoins saw small gains, with the exception of Solana (SOL), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Internet Computer (ICP).
